Dennis Morris and Shepard Fairey currently have an exhibition on called SID: SUPERMAN IS DEAD, which features paintings, prints and photographs of Sid Vicious, along with a life-size replica of a hotel room destroyed by Sid in 1977.

Shepard Fairey’s SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS will be transported back to 1977 Britain beginning 8 pm Friday, December 13 when Fairey and internationally renowned, British photographer Dennis Morris host the opening of SID: Superman Is Dead. The show will feature collaborative paintings, photographs and prints of, and inspired by, Sid Vicious’ tenure as the Sex Pistols’ bassist.

Born John Simon Ritchie, Vicious’ time with the Pistols was as brief as it was chaotic and legendary. Since his death in early 1979 at the age of 21, Sid has been immortalized as a punk rock icon in countless posthumous recordings, films, T-shirts, action figures etc. SID: Superman Is Dead is possibly the ultimate of these tributes, its centerpiece being a recreation of a hotel room trashed by Sid in a fit of intoxication, rage and depression during the infamous S.P.O.T.S. (Sex Pistols On Tour Secretly) tour of 1977, during which the Pistols were forced to play every date under pseudonyms to avoid cancellation.

The SID: Superman Is Dead opening reception will also feature a once in a lifetime live musical homage to Sid in the form of Ritchie Love, an exclusive assemblage of his contemporaries from the original punk rock era. The band is comprised of Sex Pistols guitarist, co-founder and Vicious band mate Steve Jones; Generation X co-founder Billy Idol, who ran with early Pistols support gang the Bromley Contingent; Bow Wow Wow co-founder and early Adam & The Ants guitarist Leigh Gorman; and Blondie co-founder and erstwhile Ramones and Iggy Pop drummer Clem Burke.

“The Sex Pistols changed my life when I discovered them in 1984. Their music alone made my arm hairs stand up, but their image and attitude were just as important and powerful. The member of the Sex Pistols who I was drawn to and most epitomized the punk image for me was Sid Vicious, with his spiked hair, leather jacket, lock necklace, and reckless behavior. At 14 I was mesmerized by Sid and made my first homemade t-shirt of him snarling his lip defiantly. I was rebelling, looking for any way to irritate my parents and, before I knew better, Sid was my Superman. Sid self-destructed young and with punk’s slogans like “No Future” and “Live Fast, Die Young,” Sid was everything the Superman, anti-hero, or cliché of a nihilistic movement called for. Sid didn’t really do much to shape punk music… he only actually played on two songs on Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols. However, Sid’s surly vocals kick ass on C’mon Everybody, Somethin’ Else, and My Way. Sid remains one of punk’s most enduring icons even if he is a classic example of style over substance. I was a sucker for Sid’s image as a teenager, and I still am, even though I see him as less “cool” and more tragic and cautionary these days. I have made many images of Sid over the years, and I thought I had retired him as a subject until Dennis Morris – the photographer of the most intimate and iconic shots of Sid-approached me about a collaboration. Dennis’s archive provided an amazing treasure trove of Sid images to work from in creating the paintings and prints in the “Superman Is Dead” show. I’m so glad I got to do Dennis’s Sid images “My Way”! I can now retire Sid as a subject. I’ve worked with the best, I can skip the rest.” – Shepard Fairey

“Working from the title, S.I.D (Superman is Dead), these photographs sum up/represent the image Sid portrayed of himself to the public. He was hero, villain, fearless, innocent and like a supernova, he shone bright, lived fast, died young. Punk needed a hero, Sid became that hero / anti-hero. The idea for the exhibition came from a mutual admiration and respect of each other’s work (for Shepard and I). When Shepard and I eventually met, the exhibition was born on that first meeting. It had to happen. And a happening it will be!” – Dennis Morris

In this episode of “The Making of True To This”, legends divulge the secret of the stone in a fast-paced road trip down memory lane. Geoff Rowley, Dustin Dollin, Terje Haakonsen, Gaven Beschen and Richard Woolcott tell the tales of art films gone wrong and why you’re ‘out’ if you only think about yourself.

‘True To This’
A feature film celebrating America’s First Boarding Company premieres on March 1, 2014

Toy Machine are celebrating the skateboard career of Austin Stephens with the release of the Austin Stephens Toy Machine Farewell Deck.

“I recall Austin coming to me at the Toy Machine Halloween demo a few years back saying that he didn’t think he could do it anymore. And I said, “Do what?” and he said, “Skateboard. My ankle doesn’t work anymore.” It was a heavy realization, one a skateboarder hates to actually come to grips with. Every skateboarder thrashes their ankles over time, and for Austin, it was just one tear, tweak, twist too many and after loads of procedures and healing time it seemed to be worse than when he started. I respect a man who is willing to see things as they are and make an honest choice. So it was with great sadness that we retired Austin Stephens, the rider who was on Toy Machine the longest aside from me.” – Ed Templeton

Zoo York just dropped their latest video, King of New York, a montage of hammers all filmed in NYC. This is an interview with Chaz Ortiz & RB Umali about what it takes to get a video shot in New York City, what a close call this year’s Skater of the Year award was, and some other stuff.

Photographer Yann Gross started this project of documenting skateboarding in the Kampala area of Uganda, and the first East African skatepark constructed by local kids, in 2008.

“Yann Gross is passionate about skateboarding and always takes his deck on his journeys. During one of his trips to Eastern Africa, he encounters a group of skaters, known for having built the first and only half-pipe in Uganda. Located in Kitintale, in the popular suburbs of Kampala, Gross is immediately seduced by this vernacular infrastructure and the integrative function it plays among the local youth. Given the area’s contingencies, the lack of material in particular, skateboarding becomes a collective sport that produces a whole new range of styles and unprecedented tricks. Having shared its daily life for several months, Gross finally becomes a full-fledged member of the group, to the point he even co-organises the first skateboarding contest in the African Great Lakes region. In parallel to these anecdotes, his insider’s view makes him a privileged analyst of the ways this sport strengthens ties and fosters dreams among this micro-community. Kitintale goes thus beyond mere documentary narratives, trendy clichés or paternalistic discourses and offers both a humanistic and a symmetrical account of contemporary changes in Africa.” – Joel Vacheron

Local Durban artist Wesley van Eeden and a friend decided to do a fun paste up in honour of Madiba’s passing. They did it at the Durban beachfront skatepark instead of the location they originally intended after being physically attacked by some angry landlords.

The guys from Monster Energy sent us a tour diary entry from their trip up to Knysna:

Andrew Nero from Africa Skate has been in Knysna developing the skate scene in the area. Recently he hosted a skate comp for the locals at The Yard. Monster Energy brought up Khule Ngubane from Durban with some of the 20sk8 skaters: Shuaib Philander, Ryan Naidoo, Wesley Schroeder and Grant Mclachlan to come hype up the kids and skate in the comp. On Friday the we arrived at The Yard and we watched some of the local kids skate the best trick comp where they skated in a jam session in the outdoor part of the skatepark to win some product from Selfish Skatedboards. There is some growing talent coming out of Knysna and I’m sure that this skate park is going to help build the skate community. After the session we headed out to Plett to check out what Plett rage was all about. Everyone got turned up and we all spent way to much money on box cocktails.

The next day we hit up the park again to skate in the advanced comp and to once again watch the locals show us their skills. It was a really chilled comp and we all just had a fun session together. In the advanced comp Khule came first, Grant came second, and Shuaib third, which really helped because we had no money after raging the night before.

When we got back to Plett we spent the rest of our time racing the pit bike, playing XBox and trying to find the people that stole some of our bags.

On Sunday we skated around Plett looking for street spots, but every place we found had police trying to take away our boards, so we missioned to Mossel Bay and filmed some street for a bit then headed back to Cape Town. Khule is going to be staying here for a while to film for his next video part.

An excerpt from John Magnusson’s section in Coping Mechanism, a new documentary film by Phil Evans about the Swedish city of Malmö and its unique relationship with skateboarding and concrete.

Phil Evans came to Malmö with his super8 camera about seven years ago and he has burned several miles of film on the subject since then. In many of Phil’s movies there has been a connection to Malmö in one way or another so it was inevitable that Phil was going to make a full length movie about the skate scene in Malmö.

Here Phil explains a little more about his latest project, Coping Mechanism:

The Malmö scene is quite unique to me in a variety of ways, such a variety that I felt compelled to try represent this array of radness in a documentary film.

I believe other skate scenes around the world could learn a lot from the scene here, as despite the size of the city they have managed to create a skate scene here that punches way above its weight and is producing a growing list of skater-designed parks and DIY spots and a range of very talented skateboarders that span a large social and age spread.

However, despite the scene growing in its accessibility it has managed to retain its integrity without becoming diluted or lame – old bastards, girls, DIY heads, park builders and street skaters all push their groups and agendas here in growing numbers, all to the benefit of the scene as a whole.

The people at the heart of the scene here have put in the hard work and made the right decisions to foster a unique relationship with the city council who understand the true social benefits that skateboarding has to offer. Together they have pioneered a skate paradise in an unlikely location. This is something I have tried my best to represent, analyse and celebrate in Coping Mechanism.

Revolution Team Riders Anthony De Mendonca and Tian van Rensburg hit up Thrashers skatepark in sunny Pretoria to check out the how the progression of the locals have been doing. We were also fortunate to be joined by DC Rider Khule Ngubane.

The Assembly in Harrington Street, Cape Town, recently introduced a new series of events they are hosting entitled: “Assembly Radio Live – The Rock ‘n Rollercoaster Presents…” – a series unique to its kind of which intimate approach and unique setting has rarely been seen before in the Mother City.

A combination of the concept of VH1 Storytellers and MTV Unplugged – the series hosts some of South Africa’s top music acts and offer fans, music fanatics, media and industry insiders the chance to interact with some of the biggest bands our country has to offer on a personal level.

The series launched in October with guests Van Coke Kartel performing and interacting with fans and music industry insiders to great success, followed by Taxi Violence in November.

For the third event in DECEMBER, Assembly Radio Live – The Rock ‘n Rollercoaster Presents: Inge Beckmann.

Join Assembly Radio and The Rock ‘n Rollercoaster on Assembly Radio with Dylan Culhane for an evening of interviews and live acoustic performances from Inge Beckmann and a collection of her collaborators.

The third in a series of monthly events unique to its kind in Cape Town – an intimate, sit down experience with some of SA’s top music acts and artists, that gives the audience their chance to pose questions to the band and engage in the conversation. Broadcast live on Assembly Radio.

The lost/found Exhibition took place at Revolution Woodstock last week Thursday. It was a huge success. Not only were there some incredible artworks exhibited, but it was also the launch of the Verb Artist Series decks by artists Daniel Ting Chong, Justin Southey, Hanno van Zyl, Jade Klara, Jaco Haasbroek and Gerhard Human. The Kraken Rum kept the social juices flowing, and Roastin’ Records kept everyone stoked with their DJing. Milkshed, the non-profit that a portion of proceeds from the exhibition will go to, were there as well, and displayed some beautiful furniture made from reclaimed wood; a children’s bicycle, a small set of table and chairs, a lamp, and some rad stationary holders for your desk. We also put out one of the new Verb DIY decks and let people draw on it. The exhibition was packed, art was appreciated and sold, and everyone had a good time.

Thanks so much to everyone who came to the exhibition opening last night! A special thanks to Simon and Candice for curating, The Kraken Rum, Roastin’ Records, Milkshed, the artists that exhibited their work, and the artists who collaborated with Verb for the Artists Series skateboard decks. We are really proud of the series.

The exhibition is still running for another week, so feel free to drop by anytime (when we’re open obviously) and browse the art.